Alexander Drueke
Alexander Drueke is an American citizen, and veteran of the US Army, who was captured in Ukraine after volunteering to fight for Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] Drueke was captured near Kharkov, in mid June, 2022. In telephone calls to his family, shortly before his capture, Drueke said he was training Ukrainian fighters how to use US weapons.
On September 21, 2022, Drueke, fellow American captive Andy Tai Huynh, and eight other foreign volunteers, were in a prisoner exchange.[2][3] Euronews reported the exchange took place after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman negotiated with Russian authorities. The Washington Post reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also played a role in negotiating the prisoner exchange.
According to Euronews Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh, a veteran of the US Marine Corp, also captured in mid-June, were the first Americans Russia has confirmed it had captured.[2] Although they were believed to have been captured by Russian forces they were held by the Donetsk People's Republic - a piece of Ukraine that had been held by Russia since 2014, where it supports a puppet regime.
Euronews reports interviews with the pair which were broadcast in Russia, after their capture, in which they said they had changed their minds about the war.[2] Their families believed the comments they made in the interviews were coerced.
According to ABC News Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously called the men "heroes", while Russian authorities described them as mercenaries, "who had committed crimes".[4]
References
- ↑ Dan Lamothe (2022-06-15). "U.S. veterans missing in Ukraine, feared captured, families say". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/15/americans-feared-captured-russia-ukraine/. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Russia releases U.S. citizens Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh in prisoner exchange -family representative". Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/22/ukraine-crisis-prisoners-saudi-usa. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ↑ Dan Lamothe, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Karen DeYoung, Alex Horton (2022-09-21). "Americans freed in sprawling Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/21/us-veterans-alexander-drueke-andy-huynh-russia-ukriane/. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ↑ Mark Guarino, Meredith Deliso (2022-09-22). "Russia releases 2 Americans captured fighting in Ukraine: The two Americans were first reported missing in June.". ABC News. https://abc7news.com/alexander-drueke-andy-huynh-russia-us-soldiers-released/12247536/. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
